Tenkai Knights: Nxt! Knights
by Axolotl of the Light
Summary: Three years after the defeat of Vilius, a new group of kids inherit the cores of the Tenkai Knights when evil once again threatens the balance of both worlds. Can they learn to work together and become an even greater legend than their senior Knights, or will cooperation prove too much to handle?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Three years after the defeat of Vilius...

It was early summer. The first week of June. Everything seemed to be full of calm as a gust of wind softly stirred over Benham City.

"Hey!"

A cheery red-haired boy dressed in a crisp middle-school uniform that still seemed too big on him was hurrying up to a group of kids waiting on him. When he reached them, he doubled over on his knees, breathing heavily. "Sorry... I'm... late..." He breathed through gasps of air.

A blue-haired boy with goggles around his neck smirked playfully. "Took ya long enough, Guren. I thought I was going to fall asleep."

Guren straightened with a smile. "Dia wouldn't let me go," he laughed.

"Your cat?" A green-haired kid spoke up, looking to be about a year younger than the others. "You should have brought him. He's like the official Tenkai Cat!"

"You can't take a cat to Quarton, Tokusa," the blonde-haired kid beside him retorted coolly, patting him on the shoulder.

"Oh yeah..." Tokusa rubbed the back of his head. "Guess not."

A brown-haired kid smirked quietly at the bickering of his friends. He looked up, catching everyone's attention. "Hey, if we don't hurry up, we're not gonna hear the end of it, guys."

"Right, sorry, Gen," Guren apologized before gesturing for the others to follow him.

The boys raced down the hill to a group of warehouses, competing with each other to get there first. When they finally stopped, nearly all of them had collapsed on the ground out of breath. They now stood in front of one warehouse with an identification number 'TK5FILEW.' It took the combined strength of all five of the boys to pull open the heavy rusty doors.

Inside, it was pretty much barren except for a large familiar machine near the back. The Transdimensional Portal.

"There it is," Guren gasped, memories flooding back to him of using the portal and fighting on Quarton. It had been awhile since any of them had seen it.

After the ultimate final battle three years ago, it had been unanimously decided that the portal should then be moved to an abandoned warehouse for safe-keeping. The warehouse itself was well-hidden, as hardly anyone ever went there anymore.

"I can't wait to see Beag's face when we show up after so long," Tokusa bursted out laughing to himself, as they all made their way inside.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle began to emit around them, startling them all. Guren dug into his pocket, recognizing the sound quickly, and one by one all of them followed suit. It was a surprising turn of events. The core bricks began to glow, Quarton calling for help, once more.

"It's Quarton!" Chuuki gasped.

Gen flipped his core brick in the air and caught it in his fist coolly, stepping toward the portal. "Let's go!"

It was a unanimous decision as they all ran up into the machine, prepared to fight.

The similar hum of the machine as it started to life around them, it zapped them in a wave of brickified energy.

…

…

"Burning… Braven!" Guren shouted heroically, striking a fighting pose.

…

"...huh?" a collected gasp echoed through the empty warehouse.

Guren stood in the middle of the group, still his human self, as beads of sweat collected on the back of his head and neck. He straightened after a moment and looked at his hands in disbelief. "Why am I not Braven?" He muttered.

"It didn't work," Chuuki shook his head.

Seiran looked at the top of the machine. "Stupid thing. Maybe it's rusty or something…" His gazed held firm, trying to figure out what was wrong.

All the while, the core bricks called for their assistance.

"This stinks!" Tokusa yelled, breaking the silence, "How does it expect us to help if it won't turn us into the Knights!"

…

An awkward moment of silence fell on their shoulders. Guren gripped his core brick tightly. "We have to do something…" he kept muttering.

Suddenly, they heard voices, faint but growing nearer.

"Idiot. How'd I let you talk me into this?" The voice grumbled unhappily.

A much more optimistic voice spoke up. "Hey, you lost the bet fair and square, remember! It's not my fault you have such bad luck!"

"Shut up."

The voices continued to bicker back and forth until they were right outside the warehouse. The five middle-schoolers could only hold their breath tensely as they waited uncomfortably for the next few moments.

The screech of the warehouse doors echoed throughout the building as they were pushed apart.


	2. Wolves

**Chapter 1**

**Wolves**

Earlier that day…

The sounds of cheering voices filled the park with adrenaline as kids chanted for their favorite players. Two boys, fifth grade cousins, stood facing each other, their bodies warmed with anticipation to play. "Okay, so if I score more points, you have to go down to the warehouses with me after the game," Akira Akagami, a goggle-headed caramel-brown haired boy with the ends of his hair dyed blonde like flames, dared the boy standing in front of him.

Daisuke Kurogami rolled his eyes, but didn't back down. He smirked. "If anyone catches us over there, it's gonna be one-hundred percent your fault." The shook hands firmly. "But there's no way I'm letting you score more than me."

Akira's goggles gleamed under bright sun.

The game of street basketball began, Akira and Daisuke posing as their own team against about five middle and high schoolers. They ignored the taunts about how much of a bad idea it was to challenge high schoolers, and focused on running down the court.

Daisuke stole the ball from a blonde-haired middle schooler and easily ducked around to run the other way. However, it wasn't long before he was blocked by two more. He weighed his options, scanning the closest players quickly yet effectively. "Akira!" He threw the ball up above his opponent's heads. "Now!"

"Hey!" "What?"

The older students were taken aback by the sudden toss, but it was long enough for Akira to come bouncing off of one of their shoulders, and receiving the ball. "Got it!"

Akira landed on his feet firmly and quickly got up, racing away from the high schoolers. From behind, Daisuke slunk away quietly.

The goggle-head saw the basket approaching quickly, he studied his position, and then leapt up to dunk it. Everything was looking like he'd score until the ball suddenly left his hands. "Huh?" His eyes widened in surprise for a moment.

The blonde teen had stolen the ball from him, and was already halfway down the court by the time Akira landed. Daisuke turned on his heel and made a beeline after him, letting Akira take up the rear.

Then, suddenly, just as the ball flew through the air to the basket, both Daisuke and Akira reached up after it. Both boys ended up in a sickening clash of heads under the basket as the ball landed and bounced off to the side. They were the laughing stock of the game.

"Smooth move, kids," the blonde teen taunted as he picked up the ball. "Maybe you should know who you're messing with next time so you can play in the kiddie league."

Daisuke grumbled as he pushed himself up. Akira looked as if he wanted to punch something.

"Hey, we're not done yet!" the goggle-head shouted. "That was just a warm up anyway!"

The blonde kid stared at them. After a moment, he dribbled and then passed the ball to Akira. "If you really want to get beat so badly, your play!"

The game lasted for about an hour after that, with the high schoolers having won six to three. When the game was over, the park quieted almost instantly, leaving Akira and Daisuke by themselves. The two were sitting on a bench beside the court, catching their breaths.

After a minute, Akira turned to Daisuke. "I won, dude." He smiled cockily.

Daisuke furrowed his brows, and retorted readily, "You only beat me, _Akira_, because one of the high schoolers tripped me the first time, and you stole the ball!" He flicked his cousin on his goggles.

Akira pretended to flinch, covering his goggles with his hand. "A win's a win! Don't be a sore loser."

A few moments later, the two had picked up their things and had found themselves walking towards the warehouses. When they could finally see the large gray buildings a couple of blocks ahead, Akira turned, "Aren't you curious, though, Dai?"

"Hm?" Daisuke half-heartedly replied, still upset about the game. "I still don't see what's so special about a bunch of abandoned warehouses."

Akira fidgeted with excitement. "Well, I know I saw some people going into one a couple of times! Don't you think that's suspicious at all? I bet it's aliens or something!"

Daisuke face-palmed. "You're an idiot. I can't believe we're related."

Akira calmed down a smidgen. "Well - aliens or not, I did see someone before!" He still tried to defend his theory strongly.

The long-haired cousin stared at him for a minute, before putting his arms behind his head with a shrug. "It's probably nothing. Just guys doing maintenance checks or whatever."

Akira was against it. "And what if I said I thought they looked like students? Then what?"

"You're clearly delusional."

"I am not."

Both boys came to a halt beside each other as an eerie-ness suddenly draped over them. "What was that?" Akira whispered into Daisuke's ear.

Daisuke glanced over to him briefly. "You sensed it too, right?" His voice in an equal whisper.

Then, suddenly cutting them off from saying anything more, they heard something large but slow-moving coming up from behind. It sounded like… a robot moving.

At the same time, the boys silently dared each other to look behind them, and then they were off, racing each other deeper into the warehouse district. Neither of them wanted to think about what they had just seen.

They turned corners, this way and that, often running in circles a couple of times in their haste until they finally slammed against each other and fell to the ground, out of breath.

For the longest of moments, the only thing either of them could hear was the sound of their own beating heart and heavy breaths. After a while, Daisuke sat up. He looked around slowly. "Did you see that thing?" He breathed finally.

Akira shot up quickly. "I told ya there was something over here, didn't I?"

Daisuke turned. "You said it looked like students! That was a giant robot!"

"It was still something, wasn't it?" Akira shrugged dismissively.

Daisuke grumbled. "Idiot. How are you so calm about this? Do you know what it is?"

The goggle-head took a deep breath, dramatically, raising up a finger. Then his arm went limp. "Nah, I'm not a rocket scientist!"

Daisuke sighed heavily as the two boys helped each other up from the ground. As Akira was brushing off his shorts, Daisuke pointed out once more, "Hey… where are we?"

"Huh?" Akira looked up, his eyes scanning the area as well. As fact would have it, neither of them could seem to place where they had ended up in their rapid haste to run away from the robot-thing. "Uh…"

As if matters couldn't get worse for the two, Daisuke's watch started to ring. They both began to freak. Daisuke gulped before picking up his wrist and connecting the call. "H-Hello?" He spoke into the wrist-phone, trying to hide his uncertainty as much as he could.

A loud shrill voice came from the other end. "Daisuke? ...Are you there? You better answer me! Is Akira with you?" The questions rained down one after the other, barely giving either of them a time to respond.

"Shoot," Akira groaned, sort of whisper-yelling frantically in Daisuke's face. "It's Granny! What does she want?"

Daisuke shrugged, looking back down at the wrist-phone. "Uh, yeah, Granny. We're both here. Was there something you needed?"

"Oh!" Her tone changed instantly. "You boys better not be getting into trouble! You know the last time that happened, don't you? And we _don't_ want any repeats."

Both boys shook their heads hastily as if she could see them. "Nope!" Akira shouted abruptly, leaning on Daisuke's shoulder. "Sure wouldn't, Granny. Gotta go. Bye!" He hung up the call.

For a second, Daisuke glared at him quietly, as Akira let out a deep sigh of relief. "She calls at the worst of times…"

Right then, Akira's attention was distracted. Just up ahead, he noticed a warehouse labeled with 'TK5FILEW.' He jabbed Daisuke in the shoulder. "Hey, Dai!" He pointed to it, his voice trying to imitate a stealthy whisper as if he was some sort of secret agent. "That's it! That's the one!"

Daisuke stared. However, he didn't get any time to respond as he was dragged by the arm to its doors.

Daisuke pointed up. "Hey, look!" Above their heads, from a long narrow window, he noticed a flash of light. It was definitely bright, he could tell, but it didn't last long to ponder what it came from.

"See? Suspicious, right?"

Akira briefly asked before walking right up to the door and giving it two or three bangs with his hand. Daisuke grabbed him back almost immediately. "What are you doing, Idiot?" He yelled through his teeth. "Are you trying to get us in trouble? What happened to being stealthy?"

The goggle-head shrugged, pulling his arm away. "Just help me get it open, alright?"

Daisuke's eye twitched. He almost thought about leaving his dopey cousin right there, but then he'd have to explain where Akira was when he got home anyway. "He grumbled, "Fine…"

They positioned themselves on opposite sides of the large doors, and pulled as hard as they could. The large rusty doors almost didn't budge at all, until they heard a loud clang and a screech against concrete as they pulled apart. Just barely enough so that they could squeeze inside.

Both boys peered inside at the exact same time, both cautious and curious at what they may find. Their eyes widened.

"Whoa!" Akira gasped, his eyes landing on the large machine in the back instantly. He went rushing into the building faster than Daisuke had any time to protest. "This. Is. So. Cool!"

"Akira!"

Daisuke, face-palming with visible annoyance, he went running in after his cousin.

…

"Who are you?" An unfamiliar voice suddenly cut through a bit of awkward silence.

Leaving his cousin to drool over the weird alien machine, Daisuke abruptly stopped where he was when he noticed who he was staring down. He stifled a gulp at the older brown-haired kid.

But as soon as the moment of shock suppressed itself, the boy took the time to notice five middle schoolers crowded around the machine, staring at their newcomers with vastly different moods.

"Sorry to butt in," Daisuke ignored the many questions he was wanting to ask right then. "We were just leaving."

"No we weren't -"

Daisuke ran up onto the machine quickly, tugging at his cousin's arm. "Yes we were."

The two of them broke out in a bout of wrestling with each other; Daisuke trying to shove Akira off the machine, and Akira trying to stand firm.

The green-haired kid made a comment. "Perfect. We can't go to Quarton, but now we're stuck with two kids."

"Hey! Guys!" The red-haired leader ran up to the feuding boys, trying to pull them away from each other before any serious damage was dealt.

That also signaled the rest of the group to step in as well. They all ran up after him, peeling the two away from each other.

"We don't -"

Suddenly, the machine hummed to life again, and the core bricks of Braven and Dromus flew to the two new boys. There was hardly any time to react as both boys caught the bricks.

"What is -" "What the…"

And the five seniors were suddenly left alone again as they were zapped to Quarton.

_All systems online and operational. Dromus core activated._

Daisuke opened his eyes groggily; it felt as if someone had hit him in the head with a hammer. He blinked, trying to get a sense of where he was. "Where am I?"

He looked around slowly. He seemed to be in the middle of nothing, with flat rock underneath him. The nearest outcropping looked to be about a mile away even.

He drifted his gaze up toward the sun, blinked, and then looked down. He suddenly jumped, noticing his hands. He didn't have any fingers, let alone opposable thumbs. They looked almost like...

Daisuke tried making a fist a few times, trying to adjust to the feel of his apparently new body. "This is weird…"

Just then, something came rushing at him like a one-man tornado! He looked over to see a red-armored robot coming closer to him with incredible speed. He just managed to make out, "Ahhhhh! Help! Somebody help!"

"Wait a minute… that sounds like…"

_Sensors indicate that Braven is approaching._

"Braven?" Daisuke asked the voices. "Who is Braven? And where am I? Who are you?"

_You are on Quarton. You and your friend Akira Akagami have been chosen as the new holders of the cores of the Tenkai Knights, Dromus and Braven…_

Before the voice could say anymore, though, it was caught off by a crash. 'Baven' had reached them, tripping over his own feet and landing face-down in the dirt.

"Smooth landing, _Braven_…" Daisuke felt the need to comment sarcastically. _I honestly can't see Daisuke as being some hero._

A muffled reply came the dirt. After a moment, he pulled his face from the dirt, shook the dust from his bain, and stood up. "Well, _Dromus_, thanks for helping!" It was clear now that this was Akira. He rounded on his cousin harshly. "But I was just chased by that thing!"

Akira pointed in the direction that he came from, as if on cue, to see a larger robot shaped something like a bull coming charging at them.

"What is that thing?" Daisuke, Dromus, stared as it rumbled across the ground.

_That is a Taurox._ _It appears to be upset._

"Yeah, I got that from when it chased me over here, Mr. Know-it-All," Akira said. "What do we do?"

_Would you like me to activate your weapons?_

Akira and Daisuke looked at each other for a second, before nodding in unison. "Uh, yeah!" Daisuke shouted, "That would be great!"

In the next second, a pair of swords and shields appeared in the air, both of the claiming one of each. Akira slashed his sword through the air a couple of times energetically. "Oh, yeah! This is awesome!"

_Would you like to know your special attacks?_

"We have those too?" Daisuke ignored the rumbling and Akira.

_Yes. Burning Braven's elemental attack is Burning Meteor Shoot, while Dromus' is called Gale Cyclone._

Just then, the giant bull-bot grabbed Akira by his sword and lifted him up. Daisuke jumped back in time to not be hit; he watched as the Taurox swung Akira around.

_Gale Cyclone._ "I'm not sure what that means… but," he steadied his stance and held up his sword with both hands. He tried to concentrate deeply, trying to feel a surge of power within him that fit the 'Gale Cyclone' name.

Suddenly, he was swept off of his feet and into the dirt as the Taurox tossed Akira into him. They both tumbled backward, creating a mini-sandstorm in their wake. Akira's head was spinning.

Daisuke pushed himself up just enough to see the Taurox readying to charge again. "Do you have any idea how to activate those attacks, Braven?"

Akira looked over, momentarily confused. "Well…" He looked back at the Taurox, feeling the rumbling under his 'hands.' He thought for a minute, stealing his courage.

_There is no way I am being beat by some giant bull-robot thing!_ His fists clenched tightly, one gripping the sword, as he stood and eyed the Taurox with a newfound determination. He felt a fire surge through his core.

Daisuke was astonished at the new aura coming from Akira, it poured out like flames.

Akira jumped at the Taurox, holding his sword above his head, feeling a ball of heat collecting enmass at the point of the sword. All his courage, all his power. When he felt like the ball of flame couldn't possibly get any larger, he lunged it at the Taurox with a shout, "Burning Meteor Shoot!"

Daisuke was amazed at the sheer size of the fireball, at his cousin controlling it. As the ball flew towards the Taurox, he gripped his own sword again, feeling as if he had the same amount of courage, and swung his sword around, pointing it at the bull-bot with a yell…

Nothing happened…

The fireball singed the Taurox enough to de-brick into a mass of energy. Akira landed again, staring at the outcome of the bull, feeling as if he beat the level of a video game.

And then, _Tenkai Energy at zero-percent. Now de-activating._

**Well, review please, and tell me what you all think of the first chapter.**


	3. Fragments of a Dragon

**Chapter 2**

**Fragments of a Dragon**

The machine simmered with a hum until it finally went quiet again. Both Akira and Daisuke appeared within it, leaning slightly against each other for balance, barely able to believe what had just taken place. They fell the the floor with wide eyes.

The five senior students gazed up at them in an equal, but different, sense of exasperation.

Finally, Guren shared a glance with all of his fellow knights. "So, we can't go to Quarton anymore?" He pondered slowly, musing aloud to no one in particular.

Gen looked at him for a moment, then shifted his eyes back up to the two younger boys, who were now making their way slowly to their feet. They were still in a bit of a stupor. "Maybe…" He looked again to everyone else. "But what if the same thing will happen for the other core bricks? We may not be able to go there personally, but a whole new group…"

Chuuki's eyes lit up. "You mean like training a new team for the playoffs, right? In our place?"

Tokusa shot a glance at the taller blonde, quickly re-directing to the two new kids, and then back again. "_You mean_ sending a bunch of newbies to do a hero's job? No way!" He denied the proposal furiously.

Seiran crossed his arms. "Yeah… I don't know about that either. We have way more experience."

As the five seniors argued about their sudden current situation, Akira and Daisuke now watched in quiet astonishment. Though, for each of them, it was quite a different definition. Daisuke suddenly fumed, running forward and shoving into Gen to make himself known. "Whoa, you all know what this is about? Don't we get a say in any of this here!"

Gen shot a glare at his long-haired junior but held his tongue. Guren stepped up with the hopes of trying to ease his confusion and anger. "Whoa there!" He tried to laugh light-heartedly. "Right now, _we_ don't really know what's going on either. Let's try to think about this calmly, right?"

Daisuke stared at him, looking about to snap. Suddenly, Akira popped up directly in front of his cousin, almost knocking the other boy down, shoving the now-his red core brick into Guren's face with an almost giddy expression. He beamed. "I'm like a shooting star with this thing! Like a crime-fighting robot in some kind of sci fi TV series!" His voice was loud, as his eyes practically sparkled at the small brick, clasped in both hands now.

"Whoa, he's kinda like a younger Guren that's had too many energy drinks!" Chuuki exclaimed with a small chuckle.

Daisuke found his footing, dug around in his pockets quickly and pulled out the gray core brick of Dromus. He shoved his cousin to the side, thrusting his brick into his seniors' faces as well, but not with such a happy look. In fact, he had a serious air about him. "Well, I'd rather want to know why we were chosen! I'm quite suited to my _human_ body."

It took about a solid half an hour for Guren and the others to calm both of the younger boys down, on a reasoning level. They then spent a couple of hours trying to answer as many questions from them as they could, trying to inform the inheritors of Braven and Dromus' cores about all of their Knightly abilities and such.

Finally, when someone realized the sun was starting to set, and Daisuke and Akira remembered they had to get home quick or else, they all departed for the day with one little warning about not to tell anyone about their now-double lives.

The two boys were closing in on their house, almost the entire walk back being in silence as they both thought over different aspects of what being a Tenkai Knight meant. Akira yawned loudly, breaking the silence, and then doubled over. "Man, I'm hungry! All this heroic thinking is making me hungry!" He complained loudly, rubbing his arms over his stomach.

Daisuke shot a quick glare at him. "You're always hungry, Akira!" He shrugged, "Besides, I still don't see you as some kind of hero."

Akira perked up instantly, clenching his fists as if he was going to punch the boy next to him. "Oh yeah! Well, if I recall clearly, I was the one who ended up saving _both _of us from that Taurox thingy!" He jabbed a thumb at his chest haughtily pointing to himself.

"Yeah - after you ran away like a coward!" Daisuke retorted sharply.

The two were in a near-fist fight by the time they reached the front door of their family's home, practically disturbing the whole neighborhood with their bickering.

In the darkening shadow of a trash can set right outside the cousin's front gate, something small leapt unseen leapt behind it. It then turned, staring with large glowing eyes up at the two fighting kids, neither of them taking notice or sensing its presence. The shudder of its silhouette seemed like it was trying to suppress a laugh.

Just then, the front door of the residence swung open, frightening the creature to hide farther into the shadows, as a pair of footsteps came out to welcome the two home.

"Do you two even know how late you are?" the voice of the elderly woman echoed above their squabbling, as she tucked them away from each other by pinching their ears. The squabbling instantly transformed into cries and yelps as she continued to chastise them. "Didn't you hear when I was calling? ...Did you turn off the phones? Jeeze, to have such rude grandsons like you two." She started to mumble under her breath as she dragged the boys, still by their ears and despite their complaints, into the house.

"Come on, that hurts, Granny -!" "You don't have to pull so hard, do ya!"

Both Daisuke and Akira fidgeted and tried to pull away from the old woman to no avail.

The boys were now sitting across from each other in the living room of the home, each with a red ear now that they held packs of ice against, sending equal-intensity death glares to the other from where they sat. A younger boy sat on the plush-carpeted floor between them, occasionally looking up at one of them and then down and then to the other, and it kept going like that for a while as the smells of dinner started to ferment in the air.

Finally, the younger boy turned away from his toys, and called, "Mom! Akira and Daisuke are trying to glare each other to death again!"

Mrs. Akagami, a pretty woman with soft brown hair braided over one shoulder, looked over from where she and her mother were trying to make dinner. She breathed a short sigh before walking into the adjoining room to see what what going on.

She dismissed her younger son lightly, telling him to go wash his hands for dinner, and then turned to look at the two eleven-year-olds. This was a common occurrence in the shared household of the Akagamis and Kurogamis with the two eldest boys. "You two are not setting a very good example for Yoh, you know? The least you could do is try to act like you like each other for one day."

There came an abrupt "No." from both sides, and Mrs. Akagami hung her head in her hand.

The animosity felt much harsher than usual, and Mrs. Akagami couldn't even begin to imagine that it probably had something to do with a whole nother planet!

She clapped her hands together. "Okay, well then!" She turned to both boys in turn. "Akira, you should at least know better in front of your brother. And Daisuke, my brother should be home soon, so unless you want next weekend spending time cleaning the house…" She didn't have to finish.

Both boys were well aware of Mr. Kurogami's strictness. Every time he knew the two had been arguing he would immediately enlist them to spend the entire following weekend cleaning the house together. And doing errands. And possibly getting extra homework from him as well.

Akira and Daisuke shook their heads, the packs of ice falling to the floor as they suddenly disappeared up the stairs in a whir, stumbling past each other to try and beat the other up.

Mrs. Akagami smiled faintly, before turning back to the kitchen.

Daisuke's father had returned from work shortly after that and they had all sat down to dinner. Soon enough, both Akira and Daisuke had called it a night and tucked themselves into bed. They slept in a shared bedroom, with Akira's bed in one corner of the room, and Daisuke's up against the other.

The core bricks had been placed on a small night stand by their respective beds, soon humming with a faint whistle as soft snores filled the quiet air. The faint sounds of adults talking could be heard from downstairs.

Then, a familiar pair of glowing eyes appeared right outside of the window, staring in with an odd sense of curiosity. It stole a quick glance at both soundly-sleeping forms, and then lifted up what seemed like a long tail, the end oddly shaped like a large two-sided key.

Within the room, a sudden knock made the creature jump a bit, as each core brick was flicked over onto its side. The glowing eyes squinted for a moment, concentrating, before picking up the bricks and sliding them through the air slowly. The bricks suddenly dropped from its control as its eyes widened with a momentary loss of control, and it hid its face timidly with its two 'forepaws.'

Luckily for it, the bricks managed to land right on each boys' wrist-phones, only invoking a slight twitch of the hand or arm in reaction. Then, surprisingly, letting off a vibrant colored-glow the bricks seemed to start to fuse with the wrist-technology. A quick flash of brickified light-energy later, and the wrist-phones had seemed to take on the color of the brick that had sunk into it.

The creature quietly blinked.

"Hello? Are you awake? Hello! Misteeeerrrrrr Core-Inheritor of the Red Knight!"

Akira woke to the morning sun groggily, hanging awkwardly half off his bed, to the sound of a squeaky unfamiliar voice. As Akira rubbed his eyes, Daisuke also stirred awake, seeming to also stir from the weird voice.

"Akira, you know I'm going to kill Yoh later right," Daisuke muttered grumpily, still not fully aware in his drowsy state.

Akira numbly shook his head, but before he could do or say much in response, the creature suddenly turned around, whacking Akira in the face with its key-shaped tail as it hopped suddenly over to Daisuke's bed next. "Oh, good! The Core-Inheritor of the Black Knight is awake as well!" It exclaimed seemingly happily as it landed right in front of the long-haired boy.

That statement suddenly alerted both boys at once. Their eyes shifted down to the little thing now sitting on Daisuke's bed. The room was sent into a frenzy as the boys yelped at the unknown creature, almost no doubt stirring the whole household awake.

Both boys tripped over their own feet as they tried to scurry out of bed away from the creature. His hair messily falling over his shoulders in his haste, not yet in its usual ponytail, Daisuke slammed his back to the bedroom door, locking it to make sure no one walked in on them.

Akira was close behind him.

The creature blinked, cocking its head to the side slightly as it watched the commotion.

Both boys could hear their chests beating with adrenaline from the wake up call as a sudden almost eerie quiet fell over the room. Akira stopped in his tracks, leg in the air, halfway across the room. The cousins slowly looked back at the small creature still sitting on Daisuke's bed. They watched as it casually made a small leap over to the nightstand, and then looked back at them. Its large teal-blue eyes seemed to waver with brickified energy before a short period of silence followed.

The cousins stole a glance at each other, before back at the creature, both much calmer now. "Wait…" Daisuke started, slowly.

Akira finished, looking from him to the small, alien-looking creature, "It can't be from Quarton, can it?" His voice was gaining an excitement.

The boys made their way over until both of them were staring down at it with curious looks. Daisuke went to poke it, "What is it?" His eyes suddenly widened.

As he reached out his hand, he suddenly noticed his wrist-phone, donning its new black color. "Whoa, what happened to my WC?" He gasped.

Akira eyed Daisuke before noticing his own wrist-phone a few seconds later. Sure enough, his was red. "Cool! This is totally me!" He seemed to like the new color.

"Those things still have the same functions as before," the creature then spoke up again matter-of-factly. "But since your core-bricks have now fused with them, they have a few extra capabilities!"

The boys slowly turned to listen. After it spoke, Daisuke narrowed his eyes, now ignoring his wrist and leaning down toward the creature, trying to intimidate it. "Yeah, really?" He asked skeptically, "What kind of new functions?"

The creature spun on its foot and whacked him in the face with its key-tail, feeling as stiff as a metal rod. Daisuke put his hand to his face, "That hurt, you little -!" He tried to reach out for it.

"In due time!" It chirped, its eyes bricking again. "Have some patience, will you, Core-Inheritor." It shook its head lightly.

Akira raised his brow. "What are you?" He asked nonchalantly, trying to change the subject.

The creature looked up at them again, suddenly in all seriousness. It blinked. "You can say I am the Tenkai Dragon. With the Knights currently using the Dragon Cubes for their elemental powers, my full form cannot technically exist. At least, on the planet Quarton anyway. However, I have managed to recreate my energy by drawing on the power of those that have been lost, to project myself here on this planet. I am here to serve as your guide."

Both boys blinked. "A guide?!" An exasperated gasp erupted again.

…

"...You mean, like some kind of spirit animal?" Daisuke slowly collected his words after a moment, turning to look at the 'Dragon.'

It nodded.

Akira was confused, his arms folded in thought. He couldn't grasp it. A mental image floated to his mind. He turned to the 'Doragon' clutching his head in frustration. "Ahhhh! So, you're like some kind of Buddha thing that'll follow us around from now on?" He panicked.

Daisuke flicked Akira's goggles, annoyed. "Not _Buddha_, Idiot."

The creature nodded. "Consider me like a companion, if that would help."

Akira glanced at the little thing and blinked, confused.

…

After a moment to settle things down, and the boys dressed out of the pajamas, Akira suddenly marched right up to the 'Dragon' with a now-goofy smile, and picked it up as if it were a stuffed animal. "Well, if you're really gonna start hangin' out with us, little buddy, then we need to call you something, right?" He glanced over to Daisuke with raised eyebrows.

Daisuke breathed a sigh and looked away, trying to ignore him.

Akira looked back to the 'Dragon.' "That's right! How about... " He went quiet, thinking hard. "...Tenkie? Since you're made up of that, like, Tenkai Energy stuff and your tail looks like a key…?" He asked slowly.

He received blank stares from both Daisuke and Tenkie.

But, there was no time to reply. Suddenly, the wrist… bricks(?) suddenly started to emit their warning whistle, giving off a glow.

Tenkie perked up, jumping to ride on Akira's head. "No time! I sense something wrong!" Its eyes bricked again, more 'vibrantly' than before.

The boys nodded to each other, and hurried out of the room.

**Well, review please? I know it's moving kind of slow, but it's just the beginning. I'm going to try and make it better.**


	4. Warrior of Stealth

**Chapter 3**

**Warrior of Stealth**

"Haaaa!" The curly-haired blonde boy cried out as he swung his _shinai_ at his senior.

Chuki anticipated the strike, and easily countered, matching blow for blow as the two boys danced rhythmically around the dojo floor.

Gen stood off to the side, arms crossed as he watched quietly.

When the match had ended, the young blonde kid removed his _men_, exhaling a held breath. Chuki walked up to him, acknowledging his strength, with a laugh. "You're pretty strong, Haruto! Your Grandfather definitely doesn't go easy on you just because you're related."

As Gen came up to give a congratulatory remark as well, Haruto Kiirohachi turned to them both and gave a slight bow. With the bandages wrapped around his head covering his eyes a bit, it made him seem like he always looked indifferent to everything. When he stood straight again, the corners of his mouth turned up in a small satisfied smirk. "Thank you, Chuki-sempai, Gen-sempai."

However, Haruto was seemingly cut off from saying anything more by a low hum that came from Chuki's pocket. As the blonde Knight dug the yellow core brick out, he and Gen shared a dire look.

"Quarton?" Gen said, a bit exasperated, a clench of his fists holding in his anger knowing that he wouldn't be able to go.

Chuki nodded, his eyes reflecting the core brick. He was wondering the same thing as well. "Yeah," he looked back up. "We should meet up with everyone!"

"Right!"

The two seniors ran as fast as they could out of the 'Sting Like a Wasp' Dojo. Behind them, Haruto stared quietly after them, now alone in the empty dojo, his little smirk from earlier now having faded into a frown. Something he couldn't quite sense prickled at the back of his neck, sending a quick shiver down his spine.

Elsewhere, converging from three different directions was Guren, Seiran, Tokusa, Chuki, and Gen, as well as the new core holders of Braven and Dromus, with a new companion. They were all headed for the same place, the warehouse that hid and housed the portal to Quarton.

When they were all gathered within the warehouse, all of the seniors were astounded at the sudden appearance of Tenkie. "What is that?" Seiran yelped, exasperated, expressing the shock for all of them.

Both Daisuke and Akira were a bit confused. They shared a short glance to each other and then returned the gazes casually. "His name's Tenkie!" Akira bursted out enthusiastically, pointing down to the Dragon-thing. "And he's one of us now obviously!"

Daisuke shrugged, looking away from Akira and Tenkie. "It's some kind of afterlife-thing of a dragon, apparently," he murmured.

The five seniors were confused. Tenkie nodded, having since jumped down from Akira's head. "You five would best know me as the Tenkai Dragon, and as I have already told them, the source of the Knights' elemental abilities. I have been given this form, only on Earth, to watch over the new Knights - in part thanks to a few heroic sacrifices that ultimately ended the battle three years ago…"

The five seniors were all stricken with flashbacks of a few familiar faces. Beni, also credited as Venetta, as well as Beag and Mr. White. The atmosphere of the warehouse become sullen as they all remembered the events of three years prior, leaving Daisuke and Akira to ponder uncomfortably what could possibly have happened.

Tenkie eyed the two new Knights, then, with a sense of urgency once more. "You must hurry! Now is not the time to sit around." The little creature flicked its tail toward the portal, re-alerting them of the mission at hand.

With that, Akira and Daisuke hurried past their seniors and up into the portal. The core holders on their wrists seemed to pull towards the other, almost magnetically, and they were swept up in the energy that pulsed from the machine.

A short familiar figure was making its way towards the warehouse wear the senior Knights and Tenkie were grouped. It was Haruto. Briefly seeing a flash from the windows above, he continued inside, not knowing what all he'd find.

On Quarton, Braven and Dromus appeared back to back, on guard now with the memory of what had the first time they came fresh in the heads.

Akira looked left, while Daisuke turned right, trying to scan the surrounding area as carefully as they could. Daisuke raised his sword.

After a few moments, both boys - er, bots, let out a baited breath in exasperation and impatience. "I don't get it," Daisuke grumbles loudly, throwing his sword into the ground, "Why are we summoned here if nothing seems wrong! If it's just something like last time, I am not going to keep playing rodeo!" He marched a few steps away, leaving his sword sticking from the ground.

Akira watched him for a moment and then turned to gaze at the sun, in thought. He blinked. "Well, something has to be here," he began to walk forward before turning back to look at Daisuke/Dromus. "Maybe we just have to find it!"

Daisuke could swear he saw Akira grinning stupidly at that moment.

The two wolf Knights decided to search for whatever had called them to Quarton this time. A shadowed figure lurked somewhere behind them, seeming to follow them, slowly and quietly.

As the two went on, they didn't seem to think much about stealth that much at all, deciding to blast and slash at whatever they thought could be hiding something sinister behind it. Needless to say, Quarton wasn't nearly prepared for the sudden renovation.

_Tenkai Energy now at fifty percent._

By the time two berserk warriors had calmed down, they were breathing heavily and exhausted. They were ready to collapse. Just as Akira plopped down, a sudden rumble came from beneath them, like a giant earthquake shaking the entire planet.

"What was that?" Daisuke staring at the ground now, the rumbling now quieter under their feet, but not completely gone.

Akira was looking around frantically now. "I thought it was my stomach at first…!"

Daisuke shot him a glare, raising his sword as if to hit his cousin, but was suddenly interrupted by something knocking them off of their feet by breaking through the ground.

Groaning audibly, the two Knights stood back up to inspect what had thrown them to the ground. A small robot with the top half of its mask shaped like a skull and glowing red eyes stood before them. It wielded a thick club and smirked at the now-bewildered Knights as it noticed they didn't seem to have any clue as to what was going on.

"Who are you?" Both boys said in unison, shooting each other with a quick glare before turning their attention back to the newcomer.

"I am the great Jyag!" It announced with a childish whine, loudly, brandishing its club like a microphone. "And you _morons_ haven't seen what I'm capable of yet!"

Akira looked on in interest, now mulling over how cute it was that such a small robot could do them any harm. He was about half the size of either Akira or Daisuke in robot form. Akira even went as far as rocking Jyag by the head, laughing mockingly, as Daisuke stared where he was, thinking how horrible it was that it now seemed like there was two Akiras.

"This guys got a screw loose…" Daisuke murmured, uninterested.

Jyag looked irritated now. He smacked Akira's hand away with his club, and yelled, "You better watch it! I'm stronger than you think! You Knights sealed me away once, and I won't forget it!" He swung his club around, before jumping into the air and aiming his club right at Akira.

Akira was taken aback. He didn't have enough time to evade.

"Braven, you idiot, move already!" Daisuke growled, before flinging himself at the red Knight and knocking him to the side. Sword and club met in a tangle of weapons, each wielder vying to overpower the other.

Jyag seemed to remember something as the two continued to struggle with each other. "Dromus? Why are you fighting with a Knight?" Catching Daisuke off-guard momentarily, he swung his club into Dromus' chest. Daisuke groveled. "I thought the all-powerful Dromus was too prideful to side with _anyone_?" Again, the two met in a clash of weapons, as Jyag continued to mock the black knight.

Akira pushed himself up from the dirt, turning to Daisuke with the intent of chiding him for pushing him into the dirt until he saw the two currently weapon-locked. "Huh? What?"

As Daisuke was locked in combat with Jyag, Akira picked up his sword and tried to aim it at the shorter robot. He could feel the surge of fiery energy building within himself, but the two feuding ones were moving too much to be able to aim accurately.

Finally, he lowered his sword, gave up and shouted, "Can you guys please stop moving! I can't aim here!"

However, Akira's frustration seemed to go unheard, as neither Daisuke nor Jyag seemed to relent. In fact, it may even have gotten worse.

Suddenly, a whirring sound cut through the air as a projectile flew towards the fighting robots. Akira quickly noticed it, and jumped out of the way. Daisuke seemed to at the last minute, as well, as he spun around and pushed Jyag in its direction. The small robot was stunned for a moment, as a chain-weapon entangled itself around his club tightly. With a tug, the chain was pulled taut, and tugged from his hands.

"Hey - hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Jyag frenzied. "Get your own, buddy!"

All three turned to see a Knight clad in yellow armor, perched on a large rock, the other end of the chain-weapon in his hands.

Jyag recognized him instantly as the Tenkai Knight, the legendary Warrior of Stealth, Lydendor. He held up his hands, "Hey, no one ever said you could enter this fight, buddy!" He ran forward, trying to reclaim his weapon.

Daisuke and Akira stared, half curious, half suspicious.

"Who are you?" "Show off…"

The yellow Knight stayed quiet, making no action to speak, and simply dodged around Jyag when he came near. Using movements as if he was in a kendo match, he easily kept dodging around Jyag, until he was almost side-by-side the other two Knights, where then he just continued to hold it out of the small Quartonians' reach.

"Hellooo?" Akira butted in. "Who are you, Mr. Wise Guy?" He shoved Lydendor so hard that the club flew out of his grasp. Jyag chased after it, protectively.

When the yellow Knight regained his footing, he stared in Jyag's direction as he reclaimed his weapon. Then, he silently turned back towards the pair of wolf Knights. He still made no move to even comment, but did not make eye contact.

"You idiot!" Daisuke shoved Akira now. "At least he was holding off that guy! I matched blows with him! Who knows how much you doomed us because he has his weapon back now!"

Akira countered. "Well, its not my fault you guys kept moving so I couldn't aim!"

They kept pushing each other back and forth, bickering, now completely ignoring Jyag. The yellow Knight silently watched the feuding Knights, growing bored. "...Lydendor," He casually murmured his name as if introducing himself to the two, almost as if knowing the two would be too busy to hear him.

He turned back to Jyag, tuning them out as mere background noise.

"Ha!" the short bot brandished his club mock-heroically, but noticed two out three of his enemies weren't even paying attention. "And I thought my buddies were incompetent…" he muttered to himself. Then, again with the microphone-club, "Hey, Knights! I may not know what's made your group so out of sync, but get ready to see something spectacular!"

Jyag jumped up.

Lydendor braced himself, silently, staring up as Jyag began to transform into a much larger and more intimidating form. This finally broke Akira and Daisuke from their internal fight.

"...X Mode!" When the spritely bot had finished, he was much larger, about four or five times taller, more humanoid in form, and his weapon even became more staff-like, with a microphone-like appearance. "Hear my roar!"

"...Darn."

"Oh, man! He got bigger!" Akira gasped, sounding almost like he was jealous, and Daisuke retorted by smacking him with his sword.

The three Knights braced themselves as Jyag stared down at them, hovering in the air with newfound flight. As he swung his mic-club down at them, the three Knights scurried quickly out of the way in three different directions, easily dodging the attack, but with no thought of teamwork whatsoever.

Akira landed, skidding backward, turning on his heel, and shouted, "Burning Meteor Shoot!" as he flung an enormous ball of flame at Jyag.

Jyag was wrapped in an inferno, but easily came out of it with a laugh, slicing it apart over-effectively with his staff. Immediately after Jyag emerged from the fire, Lydendor again threw his chain-weapon to once again attempt to ensnare and take away Jyag's own weapon. However, it didn't work. Instead, the blade merely bounced off, and Jyag grabbed it and flung the stealth warrior almost a perfect three-hundred-and-sixty degrees and into the dirt.

Daisuke held his sword and growled, determinedly. He watched as neither Akira's nor the yellow Knight's attempts at attack were completely useless. He gripped his sword in both hands and raised it above his head.

Jyag looked down at him, uninterested. "The Knights became weak! Is this really the group that managed to seal us away all that time away!" He yelled, towards Daisuke. "I may not know what's happened between you Knights in the time I've been locked up, but I don't see how it would make a wise guy like you, Dromus, decide to join their ranks!" Jyag didn't stop, his taunts working effectively to get under Daisuke's skin.

From opposite sides, Akira and Lydendor were pushing themselves up from the dirt. Akira was just dumb-founded, while Lydendor still didn't express any outward comments.

Daisuke was past the point of getting worked up now. He could feel it. His rage was feeding his strength, and he raised his sword even higher. The surge of energy, it was bubbling up deep within him. It warmed his core.

Finally, with a mighty yell, he swung his sword around.

"What's your mighty power, _Dromus_?" Jyag sneered, as if spitting into a storm. "Have you grown soft as well, hanging out with these _Knights_? C'mon, show it to me! Hit me with your best shot!" He taunted, ever stronger.

Daisuke's sword came full circle, the tip pointing right at Jyag.

…

Nothing.

Once again, Daisuke was left staring down the blade of his sword as all of his rage left him. Even that bubbly feeling in his gut. He felt nothing, his sword lowering a bit in shame.

Jyag noticed. "Huh? Is that it? The _mighty_ Dromus?" He smirked victoriously. "Now, let me show you a real attack!" He swung his staff-microphone around stylishly before yelling into the end of it, "Jyag's War Break!" The bellow sent a concentrated cyclone of sound headed right toward Daisuke.

The black knight was too stricken with disbelief at his own shortcomings to move. It had him paralyzed.

Suddenly, thin random strands of electricity entered his vision. Lydendor's body was now surging with an electrical current, amassing like an aura around him. He was charging forward at a blinding speed, weapon charged as well, yelling determinedly, "They are my allies! Thunderbolt… Break!"

The amassing current warped itself into the clouds, darkening them like a coming storm, and releasing large bolts of lightning, striking down all around them. One bolt came down in front of Daisuke just as he wast about to get hit by the sonicboom, and then others locked their target onto Jyag.

Overwhelmed by the power, Jyag let out a painful screech as he was being zapped, changing back to his small form in the blink of an eye, and then back into powerless block form when the lightning spears finally ended. The three Knights watched in awe as the core brick flew to some place in the distance, and they all let out a breath of relief.

Daisuke slowly turned to Lydendor quietly, gazing at him steadily. He couldn't understand how it seemed to be so easy for everyone else, including his stupid cousin, to be able to use their power. It left him with a sick feeling in his belly.

Having returned to Earth, everyone was in a celebratory mood at the three younger Knights' first official victory on Quarton, saving the thought about just who Jyag was for another day.

They all turned to the short blonde boy.

"So, who are you?" Akira was beyond curious. "That lightning attack you did was awesome!"

The kid stared at him.

"He is Lydendor's Inheritor!" Tenkie stated matter-of-factly. "And I must say, he handled himself quite well for his first time, unless what you two did…" He directed the comment towards Akira and Daisuke, earning him a punch on the head from the latter.

"Yeah, that was pretty great," Guren admitted.

Chuki and Gen nodded at each other. "His family owns the very same dojo that Gen let us train at three years ago. Remember that?" Chuki informed, gesturing towards the boy.

Haruto gave a slight smile after turning toward the group of seniors. He bowed slightly. "My name is Haruto Kiirohachi. It's nice to meet you, Guren-semapi."

Tokusa pondered, "Hey, you're that little kid that hurt his head badly that time, right? It has to be better now, though?" He pointed to the bandages on Haruto's head.

Haruto shook his head simply. "It healed a long time ago. The bandages just sort of became a habit after that, though."

"You look like some Yakuza member," Akira poked him in the forehead jokingly, laughing.

Everyone shook their head in disappointment. Daisuke punched him in the face, retorting, "That's not something you joke about, idiot."

With that, everyone broke into laughter as Akira and Daisuke began to argue once more.

Haruto stood in front of them, watching quietly. A small smirk lightened up his expression at the sight, as he inwardly broke into a laugh as well.

**Well, that marks the end of the third chapter. Hope you all like it. Review, please!  
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